Public Enemy

There is no denying that it is good to see this film released in the uk around the summer blockbuster season (i saw this film in a ugc multiplex which was playing as part of a season of asian films released across the summer), but this film in particular suffers from flaws, mainly a plot that is unoriginal and scenes and situations that dont seem to stick together, the change in mood for instance, from almost slapstick comic to dark murder thriller, but that is not to say that the film is not good, there are many scenes and themes that work well, such as the contrast between the tough maverick cop and the arrogant and psychotic fund manager who has shades of AMERICAN PSYCHO'S Patrick Bateman, and the use of dark humour which seems to be present in many of the recent asian cinema releases. Overall a film worth checking out but not one to keep your hopes up high for.

At first I wasn't sure what kind of film this was: cop film, murder mystery, comedy? The black humour throughout is peppered with lots of swearing and some gruesome killing scenes.

What's different about this film is the cast - the main cop Kang Cheol-Jung, his boss, and others are all eccentrics in their own right. There aren't many jokes or slapstick, but the characters themselves make you laugh.

Unlike other murder mysteries where the investigator solves the case with clues and evidence, Kang Cheol-Jung (the main cop) pursues this case because of his instinct. He has no doubt the suspect is guilty (somehow), despite the lack of evidence.

As for being quirky - there are a few scenes in this film which make you wonder "why did they include this"? One such scene involves the main villain/suspect in the movie. His character is played so well you actually start to hate the guy as the film progresses. "What a jerk!" you think. At that point you understand (perhaps) why the first scene portrays him as it does. ;-) You'll understand once you've seen the film.

This film is quite unique, unlike any others I've seen. Highly recommended.

Simple story here, a cop chases down a psychotic serial killer. He is the only one who believes that this respected, wealthy, family man is the serial killer, and so must bring about some under-handed methods whilst keeping the politicians off his back. What the film lacks in story it makes up for in complex relations and psychological warfare. A stroke of genius coming about once Gyu-Hwan (the killer) kills a man not related to the murder of his parents, just to tease Chul-Jung (the cop). The film begins by letting us get to know the two characters, Chul-Jung's partner shoots himself leaving Chul-Jung to be the focus of an internal investigation, while he also tries to get rid of some heroin. Gyu-Hwan is introduced ferociously masturbating in the shower, before exiting the bathroom and greeting his son. The film, like a few Korean police thrillers ('Memories of Murder', 'Nowhere to Hide') has a fantastic sense of humour to counteract the shocking scenes of violence. One scene has Chul-Jung on a stakeout, running round the streets in the rain trying to find a place to take a dump. The film can be looked at as a commentary on social status, as the cop has a bad reputation, and is tainted as he tries to do the right thing. The psychopathic serial killer, is highly respected, possibly because of his wealth. The murder scenes are at times chilling, while the fight scenes are brutal and never unbelievable (apart from a hilarious encounter in a shop between Chul-Jung and a large number of gangsters). An interesting array of supporting characters, fill in any holes that this film leaves through lack of originality, the chief of homicide, and a knife expert being among my favourites. The film seems needlessly long in places, and since we as the audience know who the killer is the investigation can get frustrating, although this may be used to reflect the anger of Chul-Jung and nobody believing him. Speaking of Chul-Jung it is very, very hard to get to like him as he is a bit of a low-life and this is a shame as it becomes hard to be brought into his world. By the end however he sort of redeems himself. The performances are wonderful from the two leads, and rather than trying to upstage each other, like good actors they play off each other and seem to be enjoying it when their character has the upper hand. It's a film that is comfortable being what it is, never wanting to push the boundaries, but offering a brilliant, tense and funny cat and mouse thriller.

The movie is a cross between "American Psycho" and "Infernal Affairs". It just doesn't do it in terms of quality of the scenario, or probably the way some actors play. Only the psycho was halfway decent. It could have been better if some of the actors just avoided to show they were acting by overdoing it, like the comical moments or some dramatic ones. The story would be good, but there were little things that prevented me to appreciate it. The ending should have stopped when the villain is done and dealt with, but there was an addition, which annoyed me. I saw similarities with the other Korean movie ("The Host"), in that I can't decide whether I should be happy or sad about the character, if not the movie.

During a stakeout a corrupt cop, under investigation by Internal Affairs, has his face slashed by a mysterious character wearing a raincoat. A connection is made between a brutally murdered elderly couple not far away from the previous incident and this rain coated man. The cop believes the couple's son might have involved in the murder and decides to investigate him.

So you have here two characters in supposedly respectable occupations (one a cop, the other a fund manager) who ain't angels. This is more obvious in the cop's physical appearance, his drug dealing and his sharing a hot bath with Korean sort of yakuza, even though the introduction of the manager character played by Lee Sung-jae (a familiar face now in the West starring in films such as Attack the Gas Station, Barking Dogs Never Bite & Art Museum by the Zoo) is quite revealing too. Masturbating and swearing in the shower in an interesting shot that completely isolates him, then we see him sharing a breakfast and playing with his wife and son in the warmth of a comfortable house. I have to say that the first 20 minutes of the film are rather interesting because the character's ambiguity still play an important role. Then all falls apart simply because of the cop's sort of rediscovery of his duty after seeing the dead bodies of the elderly couple (or is it he is only jealous at the manager's lifestyle). It all becomes a bit of a farce that w e're supposed to take seriously as the film has to make serious compromises after such a bleak beginning. "Nobody does something like that to somebody's parent without any motive" he says "for me they are public enemies". I hate to judge films by comparing them to others but Public Enemy has a too much of a Dirty Harry influence (this really put me off), a too cliché supportive boss, who is got to deal with the more bureacratic and politically correct higher hierarchies of the police department, and a array of weird characters, all criminals, that helps the cop to catch his so-called Public Enemy. The cop's trademark speech when confronting criminals really got on my nerves and not many in the audience found it funny anyway.